406 CAPRIFOLIACE.E 



and diuretic, resembling pipsissewa in action and often substituted for it. It 

 is frequently combined with black haw. Dose: 30 to 60 gr. (2 to 4 Gm.). 



536. GALIUM. CLEAVERS. LADY'S BEDSTRAWS. The herb of Ga'lium apari'ne 



Linne. Habitat: Northern Hemisphere. Stem weak, quadrangular, promi- 

 nently winged, and covered with retrorse prickles; leaves linear-lanceolate, 

 borne in whorls. Flowers small, white, axillary, the single ovary ripening 

 into a two-seeded, bristly fruit. Aperient, diuretic, and alterative; also used in 

 psoriasis and other skin diseases. Dose: 30 to 60 gr. (2 to 4 Gm.), in infusion. 

 G. ve'rum (Yellow Lady's Bedstraw) has a smooth stem, bearing yellow 

 flowers. G. triflo'rum contains coumarin, and has a fragrant odor when dry. 



537. COFFEA. COFFEE. The seeds of Cof'fea arab'ica Linne. Habitat: South- 

 ern Arabia and Abyssinia; cultivated in South America, Java, and various 

 tropical countries. The fruit is a roundish berry, about the size of a large 

 cherry, becoming dark purple, and containing two seeds, which are inclosed 

 within a membranous covering, and a purplish pulp. These seeds, when freed 

 from the pericarp, form the coffee of the market. They are brownish-green 

 or bluish-gray, planoconvex, the flat surface being elliptical, with a longi- 



. tudinal groove curving deeply into the horny albumen; odor peculiar, faint, 

 growing stronger by age; taste sweetish, somewhat astringent. Good berries 

 are hard and sink readily in water. Soft, light, . dark-colored berries should 

 be rejected. 



CONSTITUENTS. Its properties depend upon the alkaloid caffeine (2 to 8 per cent.), 

 the constituent common to most of the stimulating beverages. It also con- 

 tains sugar, tannic acid, caproic acid, fat, etc. When roasted, the sugar is 

 converted into caramel, the caffeic acid partially into methylamine, and sev- 

 eral volatile and empyreumatic substances (caffeone) are formed. Pyridine 

 has been separated from these mixed products due to roasting, giving to 

 coffee its peculiar aroma. It loses from 15 to 18 per cent, of moisture in 

 drying. 



Preparation of Caffeine (Theine). Precipitate infusion of tea or coffee with 

 lead acetate; remove lead from filtrate with H-iS; concentrate second filtrate, 

 neutralize with NEUOH, and allow it to cool, when caffeine will crystallize out. 

 An aqueous solution of caffeine does not form a precipitate with Mayer's reagent. 



ACTION AND USES. Cerebrospinal stimulant, tonic; aids digestion and allays 

 hunger and fatigue by lessening tissue waste. 



537a. COFFEA TOSTA, N.F. Yielding not less than i per cent, of caffeine. 



538. CATECHU PALLIDUM. TERRA JAPONICA. GAMBIR. An extract ob- 

 tained from a climbing plant of the East Indies, Ourouparia Gambir (Hunter) 

 Baillon, by boiling the leaves, twigs, etc., in water. It is in about one-inch 

 cubes, or in irregular pieces, reddish-brown or yellowish, breaking with a dull, 

 earthy, pale yellowish fracture, showing under the microscope numerous 

 crystals; inodorous; taste astringent and bitter, leaving finally a sweet taste 

 in the mouth. It is mostly used in this country in tanning, dyeing, etc.; in 

 its native country it is chewed with betel-nuts. 



CAPRIFOLIACEjE. Honeysuckle Family 



Shrubs, as viburnum, or twining plants, as the honeysuckle, with opposite, 

 exstipulate leaves, a gamopetalous corolla, and the fruit a berry, pod, or drupe. 

 The calyx-tube is adherent to the 2- to 5-celled ovary. 



Synopsis of Drugs from the Caprifoliacea 



A. Flowers. C. Root. 



* Sambucus, 539. Triosteum, 542. 



B. Bark. 



* Viburnum Opulus, 540. 

 VIBURNUM PRUNIFOLIUM, 541. 



